Legally, Ukraine cannot call elections while Martial Law is in force enacted after the invasion. The last presidential elections took place in 2019, with the election scheduled for 2024 postponed due to the war. Zelensky has been extending Martial Law every three months – the current extension ends on May 4th. Hence the FT news that May 15 is a possible date for holding the two ballots, which Donald Trump sees as essential to meet the deadline of putting an end to the war by spring.
The truth is that so far conditions on the ground have not changed. Just yesterday, a Russian attack during the night left more than one hundred thousand families without electricity in Kiev alone. And organizing elections under these conditions, with, moreover, a vast slice of eastern Ukrainian territory occupied, would be an almost impossible mission.
Looking at History, In 1940, the United Kingdom – the last bastion of resistance against Nazi Germany after the fall of France – postponed the elections, but put in power a War Cabinet led by Winston Churchill. Going to the polls would only take place in July 1945with World War II ending in Europe after the German surrender, but with fighting continuing in the Pacific. Although the United Kingdom was no longer bombed, thousands of soldiers remained mobilized. With the population concerned about the country’s post-war direction, the result continued to surprise, with the British giving victory to Clement Attlee’s Labor, against the mythical Churchill.
The US has already organized elections in times of war. For example, Abraham Lincoln won a second term in 1864 when the country was still immersed in the Civil War. With several states having seceded from the Union three years earlier, only 25 participated in the election.
As for Zelensky, he assured: “We are ready for the elections. It’s very simple: just establish a ceasefire and there will be elections.” Voting is a fundamental right, but even exercising it requires minimum conditions.
Executive editor of Diário de Notícias
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